Parallel bridge tooling



Oct. 12, 1965 I; D, LAKE ETAL 3,211,038

PARALLEL BRIDGE TOOLING /NVE/vroRs EDW//V D. LAKE' GERGE W CRAWFORD 57% rroR/VEY Oct. l2, 1965 E. D. LAKE ETAL PARALLEL BRIDGE TOOLING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 9. 1962 /NvE/vroRs EDWIN 0. LAKE GEORGE H. CRAWFORD QMQW Q aR/vEY United States Patent C) 3,211,038 PARALLEL BRIDGE TUOLING Edwin l). Lake, Tetiit Road, Springviie, N Y., and George W. Crawford, 51 Heiler Drive, East Aurora, NX. Filed Nov. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 236,566 1 Claim. (Cl. 83-467) This invention relates to a tool holder and more particularly relates to a tool holder for supporting one or more sheet material punch and die mechanisms.

In the art of punching a pattern of holes through a series of sheet material stock sequentially presented to a tool and die assembly, there have been many teachings setting forth holding units for interchangeably varying the pattern set-up, or for maintaining single punching units in a pre-arranged pattern. In general, this type of equipment is adapted for use with a punch press having a bed and a reciprocal ram having a movement toward and away from the bed. One conventional prior art method of setting a punching pattern is through an arrangement of C-shaped punch holders secured to the bed of the press. A serious disadvantage inherent in this method is the limited throat depth between the main vertical support and the punch and die unit. Due to the impossibility of varying the distance between the vertical support and the punch in such C-shaped units, leads to the further disadvantage of finding it diicult to orient each successive piece of sheeting with the punching units. The single support type mechanism, however, does have the advantage of eliminating the problem of relating the punch unit with the die unit.

A second conventional way of accomplishing selected pattern punching arrangements is to relate a plurality of punching members associated with the ram to a plurality of die units mounted on the bed of the press with means for accurately orienting the punching units with the die units. Although such an arrangement eliminates the limitation of throat depth it includes the limitation of requiring accurate positioning between the puncher unit and the die.

It is, therefore, a primary objective of this invention to provide a holder for one or more punch and die assemblies wherein the throat depth is easily adjusted, and when the adjustment is made the aligning of the punching member to the die unit is automatically performed.

Another principal objective of the invention is to eliminate the requirement of guide posts, bushings, and the like conventionally used in many prior art perforating die arrangements. The invention has a further objective a single tool support which embodies within its scope, an arrangement wherein a plurality of punch and die units and a plurality of spacing units may be utilized along its length.

Another very important objective of the invention is to provide a unit of the type described which may be mounted on conventional steel templates or a T-slotted or standard slot type template commonly associated with the bed of a punch press or press brake.

Another important objective of the invention is to provide an elongated punch and die tool support wherein any selected number of punching units are supported in adjustable positions along the length of the holder, and when a plurality of such supports are used in combination with each other, a complex arrangement of punching patterns heretofore unattainable can be accomplished without the limitations of throat depth and/ or the limitation of continuous realignment of the punching members with their respective dies.

Furthermore, the mechanism of the present invention provides a supporting unit with the above listed advantages in which standard punch and die assemblies are uti- ICC lzed without the requirement of special mounting appurtenances.

In general the invention is comprised of an elongated bar, the bottom of which supports one or more die units and the top of which supports a like number of punching members. The elongated bars are related to each other with one or more standards or spacers to rigidity the unit in a manner automatically aligning the punching member with the die unit. An upper elongated bar is formed with a series of equally spaced openings which are adapted to receive either a punching unit or the upper end of a spacing unit while the lower elongated bar is adapted to receive the lower end of a spacer unit or a mating die unit. For each opening in the upper bar, there is a corresponding coaxial opening in the lower bar. Since the openings are equally spaced within the upper bar and the lower bar when one or more of the openings are coaxially arranged all other openings are coaXially arranged. Therefore, another very important objective of the invention is to provide equipment of the type described in which spacing units and punching units are interchangeable within a plurality of openings in a pair of elongated upper and lower bars. It will be seen from the description herein that by varying the distance between a punching unit and the spacer support unit the throat depth of the holding assembly may be varied by intervals equal to the distance between the coaxially arranged openings.

Another principal objective of the invention is in the provision of means supported by the spacing units for adjusting the throat depth of a holding unit between selected intervals. This adjustment is important in those instances when the spacers are employed as abutment surfaces. Likewise, spaces at each end of the elongated bars will enclose a series of openings therebetween for locating punch and die sets. Such an arrangement results in a bridge effect permitting an operator to pass material therethrough. The bridge space between spacers is adjustable for accepting standard width sheets.

A further objective of the invention is in the provision of a punching set up which is readily assembled and disassembled.

These and other important objectives and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood upon a reading of the following specifications taken in view of the attached drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a diagrammatic perspective of one conventional means of obtaining a pattern punching set-up;

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic perspective View of the invention disclosed herein using a plurality of units t0 obtain a particular punching pattern;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partial vertical cross-section of one ofthe units shown in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view along the line 4 4 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like parts, the numeral 10 designates a bed of a conventional punch press. Mounted to the bed is a template 12 which may be horizontally grooved or equipped with any means for securing a holding mechanism thereto. The holders embodying the principles of this invention are designated by the numeral 16, and are comprised generally of a lower die receiving bar 18 and an upper die receiving bar 20. The bars are maintained in Xed spaced parallel relationship with one another by one or more vertical standards or spacers 22.

The lower bar 18 is formed with a series of equally spaced openings 24 along its length, and the upper bar 2t) is formed with a series of equally spaced punch receiving openings 26 along its longitudinal length. The openings 26 have a center-to-center distance D equal to the center-to-center distance between the openings 24.

Therefore, when bars 18 and 20 are juxtaposed in parallel relationship, and any one of the openings 24 are arranged coaxially with one of the openings 26, each of the openings 24 has a mating coaxial opening 26 in the upper bar.

Each of the openings 24 includes an upper counterbore 28, a first lower counterbore 30, and a second lower counterbore 32. Along the top surface of bar and in communication with the upper portions of openings 26 are recesses 34 the bottoms of which are threadedly bored at 38.

The standard 22 includes a body section 40, an upper section 42 of reduced diameter threadably bored at 44. A lower portion 46 of reduced cross-section depends from the body 40 and is threadably bored at 48. The upper section 42 is received within a selected opening 26 and is secured thereto by means of the retaining head 49 of the cap screw 50. The lower portion 46 is received in counterbore 28 and is secured to the lower bar 18 via a screw 52 threadably secured into the bore 48. Note the bridge construction 16 of FIGURE 2 in particular. The pair of spacers 22a and 22h define a span of openings in which a plurality of punching units are interchangeably received. The distance between spacers can be made to correspond with the dimension of sheet S.

Any one of the openings 24 is also adapted to receive a die member 58. Each die member is comprised generally of a cylindrical body 60 having a depending extension 61 telescopically received within the counterbore 28. The die member is secured by a retaining screw 62 having a threaded shank portion 64 and a lower protrusion 66 adapted for insertion into one of the holes in the template of the press bed. The body 60 is formed with a punch receiving aperture 68 of selected dimensions and an exhaust channel or slug chute 70 in communication therewith.

Mounted within the corresponding opening 26, above the die 60 is a punch unit 72. The punching unit is com prised of a punch member 74 having an expanded head 76 at its upper end and a cutting end 78 of dimensions only slightly less than the dimensions of aperture 68. The punch member 74 is slidably received in a sleeve 80 having an outwardly extending ange 82 about its upper end and a longitudinal (vertical) recess 84 about a portion of its outer surface. A retaining plate 86 is received by the recess 34 and is adapted to hold sleeve 80 to the upper bar by a screw 88. A first spring 90 between the upper surface of the upper bar and the ange 82 biases the sleeve 80 upwardly. An upper spring 92 between the ange 82 and the head 76 biases the punch 74 upwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 3. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, a pressure exerted on head 76 by a hydraulic ram or the like will transmit a vertical movement to punch 74. As the punch penetrates the aperture 68, a hole is formed in the sheet material between the cutting member 78 and the aperture 68. As the ram is returned upwardly, the sleeve and punching units are likewise moved upwardly under the force of springs 90 and 92.

As previously mentioned, it is oftentimes desirable to punch a series of sheet metal articles with an identical punching pattern and therefore it is desirable to have a means whereby the inserted sheet metal material aligns itself with respect to the punching apparatus automatically. The distance between the axis of the punch and die and the vertical standard 22 is normally termed in the art as the throat distance. When the throat distance is exactly equal to the distance from the edge of a sheet material S to which it is desired to punch a hole, it is very convenient to insert the material S between the punch and die unit until it abuts the standard 22. Of course, it is only on very few occasions that the throat distance will be the desired distance. A first means of adjusting the throat distance is shown by a reference to spacer 22 of FIGURE 3. An eccentric cam 100 is rotatably received about the standard 22 and can be secured thereto by a pair of set screws 102 and 104. The cam has radial dimensions varying up to the distance D. Therefore, by adjusting the cam about the standard and fixedly securing it thereto by the set screws an abutment surface is provided which effectively varies the throat distance. Another manner of providing an adjustable abutment is disclosed by referring to standard 22 of FIGURE 3. The standard or spacer 22 is provided with a horizontal adjusting screw 100 which is threadably received in a transverse bore 101. It can be readily seen that if the end 103 of the screw is moved toward and away from the axis of the die unit, the effective throat distance is varied for abutment purposes. Keyway 106 along the upper surface of lower bar 18 and keyway 108 along the lower surface of upper bar 20 cooperate with keys 110 to maintain the standards or dies in axial alignment when desired. A reference to FIGURE 2 discloses the importance of maintaining the cams in the radial alignment. Referring back to FIGURE 2, it can be seen that through the use of two standards (bridge arrangement 16) the bars 18 and 20 are maintained in parallel and aligned. It is desirable to have two spacers between bars for alignment purposes even though the bridge arrangement is not used. Note spacer 22C.

It can be seen that we have described an apparatus which utilizes conventional punch and die units but obtains a flexibility of use heretofore not obtainable. The invention has provided an arrangement of elongated bars whereby the throat distance between the support and punch units are infinitely variable while the difficulty of aligning the punch unit with the die unit has been overcome.

In a general manner, while there has been disclosed an effective and efficient embodiment of the invention, it should be well understood that the invention is not limited to such an embodiment, as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition, and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as eomprehended within the scope of the accompanying claim.

We claim:

A sheet material punching assembly for use with a punch press having a bed and a ram movable toward and away from said bed, that improvement comprising:

a first elongated bar having a plurality of first equally spaced openings along its length and having a pair of free ends, said bar supported in slidable engagement with said bed,

a second elongated bar having second openings spaced identically to the spacing of the first openings and having a pair of second free ends,

removable cylindrical spacer means supporting said first and second bars in fixed, spaced, parallel relationship with at least several of the openings of said rst bar coaxially arranged with at least several of the openings of said second bar,

a punching unit supported in at least one of said several openings of said first bar and a mating die unit supported in each opening of said second bar that is coaxial to the opening in which a punch unit is supported,

said die units having upper surfaces in a common plane for supporting a piece of sheet material,

said spacing units each having an upper end and a lower end, said first openings being of dimensions to snugly receive either one of said upper ends or a punching unit and said second openings being of dimensions to snugly receive either one of said lower ends or a die unit,

eccentric abutment cams mounted for rotation about said spacer units, each of said cams having an abutment periphery in said common plane defining a maximum radius equal to one-half the distance between each of said openings and defining a gradual 5 declining radius to a minimum radius only slightly 1,955,866 greater than the radius of said spacer units, 2,350,436 a fastener for fixing each of said cams at a selected 2,355,765 angular position about their respective supporting 2,419,862 SPaCefS- 5 2,427,409

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/07 Summers 83-619 Wales 83-619 Whistler et al. 83-620 Wales 83-637 X Wales 83-619 X Kirsch 83--559 WILLIAM W. DYER, IR., Primary Examiner. HUNTER C. BOURNE, JR., ANDREW R. JUHASZ,

Examiners. 

